8AM: The Shopping Mall

Developed by David Gallardo and published by HeadArrow, 8AM: The Shopping Mall delivers a tense psychological horror experience that proves an ordinary commercial center can become an unsettling nightmare after closing time. The game places players in the role of a night security guard assigned to monitor surveillance cameras from midnight until 8:00 a.m., transforming a routine shift into a relentless battle against unexplained events. Instead of relying on action or combat, the game embraces slow-building suspense, challenging players to remain alert while determining whether the strange occurrences unfolding across the monitors are genuine supernatural phenomena or the result of exhaustion and deteriorating sanity. The game's greatest strength lies in its atmosphere. Shopping malls are normally associated with crowds, bright lights, and constant activity, but this title strips away all signs of life. Empty hallways, silent food courts, dark storefronts, and abandoned escalators create an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. Every camera feed appears harmless at first, yet the longer players observe, the more unsettling the environment becomes. Minor environmental changes gradual…

2.5/5 Game's ok but needs an overhaul. The game is easy and not scary at all even with "Jumpscares" button enabled. Most anomalies are mediocre - different changes like person appearing or red footsteps on a wall. I successfully collected all 100 anomalies by finding 7 anomalies in a row 3 times in 30 minutes, without even looking at cameras, purely by bruteforcing the button... I will leave a positive review if the game gets a major update. Ideas to improve the game: 1. Make the player specify the room/camera where the anomaly persists. 2. Add unique anomalies with motion like something moving in the darkness. 3. Delete "Jumpscare" button, tone down jumpscares to 1-2%, improve jumpscares because current ones are trash to be honest, make anomalies to be some kind of jumpscares and something stationary creepy - merge the horror dynamic and make crazy jumpscares rare so we don't see those once every two minutes. 4. Do everything possible to make players gripped to the game so it doesn't feel pointless. 5. Add more Steam achievements, cards and badges.

jumpscare

I had so much fun playing this game. I will say that it froze on my a couple times while leaving the computer to select my answer, but I uninstalled and reinstalled to fix it. Chat had a lot of fun watching me play this game while I was streaming and loved helping me find the anomalies. I would definitely recommend checking out this game.

Love me a liminalesque abandoned shopping mall scene, just wish I could have visited the bookstore and that there were a few more places where the entities could have showed up (namely the balconies and lit-up doorways where it would've been fun to see a few mysterious shadows). Even the ghosts and demons need shopping trips every now and then!

8AM: The Shopping Mall is a fun anomaly horror game with a creepy setting that keeps you glued to the cameras. The empty mall creates great tension, and the variety of anomalies keeps each run interesting. While the jumpscares feel a bit cheap, the atmosphere and suspense make this an enjoyable entry in the series. Check out my complete playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhS5Lapn-gU